Puducherry Apr 24 PTI Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said culture was the common thread binding the citizens of the country across different regions and once India is started to be seen as a geocultural country all the problems will be solved automatically In his address at the 150th borth anniversary celebrations of Sri Aurobindo in this union territory Shah heaped praises on the latter for his contributions to the country and said to understand India one has to read or listen to him From Kashmir to Kanyakumari to Dwaraka to Bengal there is one culture that binds--Constitution is importantcountry should run on this But if there is a bonding it is the culture The culture is its soul This will be understood as soon as you read Sri Aurobindo he said Shah further said most countries came into existence due to a coalition or alliance and were therefore geopolitical in nature There is one country in the world that is geocultural that is based on culture which has no boundaries and that is our Indiaand if one starts to look at India as a geocultural country then all the problems will be automoatcially solved he claimed There is no concept of border in our culture and the Vedas Upanishads and literature there is no mention of a country We work for the wlefare of all the world he said Paying rich tributes to Sri Aurobindo Shah also recalled his role in the countrys freedom struggle including his incarceration in the Alipore bomb case and hailed his vision for the country Prime Minister Narendra Modis decision to celebrate the 75th year of independence as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav was driven by the consideration to honour even the unknown freedom fighters and take all those involved in the freedom struggle to the younger masses and reinvigorate a sense patriotism among them It is also an effort to inspiring people to strive towards making India a top country in all aspects between the 75th and 100th years of independence Shah added We may have been born after independence and may not be part of the army and while we could not sacrifice ourself for the country none can stop us from living for the country Today during 75th year of independence and 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo we all should resolve towards achieving this he said Shah also recalled Aurobindos close association with his native state Gujarat He further hailed the role of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the freedom movement thru the Ganesh Chathurthi festival The minister earlier visited the Aurobindo Ashram and paid homage at the memorials of Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator The Mother Sri Aurobindo was a great intellectual and spiritual giant He made lasting contributions to Indias freedom struggle Sri Aurobindos works and thoughts remain relevant for all and he continues to be our guiding light he said in a tweet Shah also visited the Mahakavi Bharathiyar Memorial Museum here and the hailed national poet and freedom fighter as the epitome of patriotism Subramania Bharathi is the epitome of patriotism unity social reforms His patriotic songs motivated countless people to join the Indian freedom movement His ideas continue to motivate us all Shah said in a tweet He paid floral tributes at a portrait of Bharathi at the memorial Later at a different event Shah laid the foundation stone for various government development projects as well as inaugurated the completed ones These included a Franco-Tamil village at an estimated Rs 45 crore to boost heritage tourism separate departments for Chemistry Physics and Food Processing departments in the Pondicherry University among others Underlining the Centres commitment for the union territory he listed out the various initiatives for Puducherry and make it a model UT such as banning single use plastic ensuring 100 per cent coverage vis-a-vis covid vaccination Jal Jeevan mission and ensuring bank one account for every household Puducherry has been declared Open Defecation Free ODF and every house has a toilet Shah said adding the UT is also kerosene-free with the government taking LPG to every household He noted that under about 90 projects six lakh beneficiaries have been disbursed with Rs 500 crore through direct bank transfer DBT without any middlemen He reiterated Centres keenness to make Puducherry BEST--an acronym coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promise to make the UT a Business Education Spiritual and Tourism BEST hub Taking a swipe at the previous Congress rule he said while the talk then centered around corruption it is now development under the BJP-NR Congress coalition Wrong translation was done to leaders rather than delivering pro-poor measures he said in an apparent reference to an episode involving former Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and Rahul Gandhi where the local Congress leader allegedly gave a wrong translation of a womans complaint to the national leader Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and chief minister N Rangasamy among others participated in the two events attended by Shah today PTI COR SA ROH ROH

Puducherry Mar 30 PTI The Puducherry Assembly adjourned sine die on Wednesday after passing the Appropriation Vote on Account Bill tabled by Chief Minister N Rangasamy with Rs 361366 crore allocated for five months from April to August of the upcoming financial year Over the course of a two-hour long session the House adopted the Appropriation Vote on Account Bill which earmarked funds for the five months from April to August 2022 and also approved supplementary demand for grants for financial year 2021-2022 As soon as the Chief Minister tabled the Vote on Account Bill members belonging to both the ruling and opposition bloc raised several issues concerning the woes of unemployed youth and availability of infrastructure such as roads and health care facilities Members of both the treasury and opposition benches expressed concern over rampant availability of ganja and other narcotics in Puducherry and also unemployed youth falling prey to drug peddlers Government Whip A K D Arumugham wanted the territorial administration to create a separate cell in the police department under the head of a Superintendent of Police to handle cases relating to ganja Opposition DMK leader R Siva underscored the need for holding the Assembly session for a considerable number of days instead of having it only for a day He also said the government should also ensure that a full-fledged budget was passed instead of adopting a Vote on Account Earlier the members belonging to the DMK and Congress in the opposition bloc registered strong protests against holding the session for a day and also against adopting a Vote on Account without presenting a full-fledged budget All the opposition legislators staged a walk-out from the House flaunting placards stating their demands However all of them returned to the House a few minutes later to participate in the proceedings PTI COR HDA HDA

Puducherry [India], March 28 (ANI): Flight services from Puducherry to Hyderabad and Bengaluru resumed on Sunday after being suspended for two years following the outbreak of the pandemic Covid-19.

Puducherry Mar 27 PTI Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday said resumption of flight services from the Union Territory to Hyderabad and Bengaluru would boost the UTs development particularly in the tourism sector Arriving at the Puducherry airport in a flight on resumption of services from Hyderabad Soundararajan who is also the Telangana Governor told reporters that she was confident that Puducherry would soon be linked to a number of major cities I have made out a strong case during my talks with the Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Hyderabad a few days ago that Puducherry be linked to other major cities The L-G brought a ventilator produced by IIT Hyderabad and handed it over on her arrival to Chief Minister N Rangasamy who welcomed her Besides the CM Tourism Minister K Lakshminarayanan Civil Supplies Minister J Sai Saravana Kumar Deputy Speaker P Rajavelu and several legislators were also present at the airport The L-G said IIT-Hyderabad had donated five ventilators to Puducherry and she had brought one today She hoped that the Tamil Nadu government would concede the plea of Puducherry administration for allocating required extent of land adjoining the airport here for the expansion of the runway The expansion would be of help for Tamil Nadu also as it would pave the way for inflow of tourists she said The daily flight services resumed by Spicejet airlines on Sunday after a gap of more than two years she said adding that the operations restarted due to sustained initiatives taken by the Chief Minister and the territorial government Flight services would be available daily between Puducherry and Hyderabad and also between Puducherry and Bengaluru an official source said PTI COR HDA HDA

Puducherry Mar 23 PTI Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan has said the observance of Shaheed Diwas was to make the younger generation know about the sacrifices of freedom fighters On the occasion of Shaheed Diwas Martyrs Day she said the sacrifices of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev should be understood by the younger generation She called upon teachers to ensure students learned history Chief Minister N Rangasamy said the students should develop reading habits and books on leaders of yore should be read by the youth PTI COR NVG NVG

Puducherry Feb 24 PTI A senior journalist of a Tamil daily was allegedly attacked by an unidentified gang near his house in the neighbouring N Rangasamy nagar police said on ThursdayAccording to sources the gang attacked Udayanarayanan Editor cum Publisher of Namathu Murasu on Wednesday night in which he sustained injuries He has been admitted to the government general hospital for treatmentSpeaker of the Puducherry Assembly R Selvam called on the scribe at the hospitalMeanwhile the Print and Television journalists Association has condemned the attack on the senior reporterThey demanded the government to intensify investigation identify the assailants and take stern action PTI COR ROH ROH

Puducherry Dec 21 PTI Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Tuesday kickstarted his governments scheme to distribute through bank accounts rain relief to families falling under the APL Above Poverty Line and BPL Below Poverty Line category hereA release from office of the Chief Minister said while each of the 185000 BPL families holding red colour family cards would be paid Rs 5000 by the Directorate of Civil Supplies each of 142000 APL families holding yellow colour cards would be paid Rs 4500The territorial government spends Rs 156 crores on account of payment of the rain relief to mitigate the sufferings of the families caused by the torrential rains recently in the Union TerritoryHowever the government staff are not eligible to get the relief the release said PTI COR ROH ROH

Puducherry Nov 28 PTI Normal life in the union territory of Puducherry remained paralysed for the second successive day on Sunday with heavy rainfall continuing Official sources said that around 8 cm rainfall was registered during the last 48 hours ending 830 AM Sunday Low-lying areas and main thoroughfares and also a good number of residential areas bore the brunt of the heavy rain Puducherry has been reeling under the incessant showers since last nearly two weeks The territorial government has sought an interim relief of Rs 300 crore from the Centre as flood relief Chief Minister N Rangasamy announced last week a relief of Rs 5000 to each of the families coming under public distribution system and holding either red colour below poverty line category or yellow colour cards With water released from catchment areas in neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu rivers here were in a spate PTI Cor SS SS

Puducherry [India], November 14 (ANI): Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday visited Karuvadikuppam in the Union Territory to distribute flood relief materials.

Puducherry, November 12 (ANI): Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday announced a relief of Rs 25,000 for people whose houses were damaged in the recent rains in the Union Territory. He also announced Rs 20,000 per hectare for paddy crops damaged in the deluge.